Wow: Trevor joins Kayin Barclay and Yelena Gorlin as a two-time winner of the Illinois High School Invitational Championship title(*). As in 2009, Trevor will represent Illinois in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions. After losing to freshman Sam Schmakel in round 2, Trevor reeled off consecutive wins against Michael Auger, Jonathan Kogen, and NM Eric Rosen to take clear first with a 4-1 score.
I expect Tommy Ulrich to earn his master title soon. He was leading the tournament until losing to Rosen in round 4, and took second on tiebreaks with 3½-1½. NM Adarsh Jayakumar was essentially eliminated from contention after being held to half a point by Kogen and Rosen in the first two rounds, but won out to tie for second with Ulrich.
Defending champion Eric Rosen, day one co-leader Sam Schmakel, and Michael Auger finished with 3-2 scores. Jonathan Kogen had a strong 2½-2½, losing only to NMs Rosen and Magness, and drawing NM Jayakumar.
Andi Rosen organized the event for the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program. Sevan Muradian directed, and donated the facilities of the North Shore Chess Center.
Crosstable here!
(*) P.S. I was reminded that NM William Aramil also won the Illinois Denker Qualifier twice, not to mention the Denker! So there's a new goal for Trevor....
Monday, March 28, 2011
Victoria Bian wins Illinois Girls' Invitational
Cheryl Liu beat Victoria in the round three encounter of the leaders, but then Cheryl lost to Rachel Ulrich (who was ten years old the last time I asked!) in round 4.
=1st-2nd: Victoria Bian and Cheryl Liu, Victorial Bian wins on tiebreaks.
Other top finishers in this five-round round robin: Sonya Vohra (3-2) and Rachel Ulrich (2½-2½).
Crosstable here!
Andi Rosen organized for the Illinois Chess Association; Sevan Muradian directed.
=1st-2nd: Victoria Bian and Cheryl Liu, Victorial Bian wins on tiebreaks.
Other top finishers in this five-round round robin: Sonya Vohra (3-2) and Rachel Ulrich (2½-2½).
Crosstable here!
Andi Rosen organized for the Illinois Chess Association; Sevan Muradian directed.
A note to parents
Rumor has it that some parents (no one's given me any names) want the PGN of their young stars' games embargoed until after the national championships. Carlsen, Anand, and Aronian don't have this luxury!
Wouldn't it be better to publish the games, warts and all? Then the young players can discover their opening errors, correct them, and prepare their repertoire in even greater depth? This worked for Fischer.
Wouldn't it be better to publish the games, warts and all? Then the young players can discover their opening errors, correct them, and prepare their repertoire in even greater depth? This worked for Fischer.
Zachary Holecek wins 2011 Barber Qualifier
The Illinois Chess Association held its first "Barber Qualifier," to select the Illinois representative to the USCF's new tournament of K-8 state champions, named in honor of retiring scholastic organizer Dewain Barber. The event, held at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie, was organized by Andi Rosen of the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program and directed by Sevan Muradian. Sixteen of the top K-8 players in the state were invited.
Zachary Holecek and James Wei tied for first with 4-1 scores; Zachary won on tiebreaks. Gavin McClanahan and Max Zinski tied for third with 3½-1½ scores. Conrad Oberhaus and Day One leader Bryce McClanahan tied for fifth with 3-2 scores; Penny Xu and Nathaniel Kranjc had even scores.
Crosstable here!
Zachary Holecek and James Wei tied for first with 4-1 scores; Zachary won on tiebreaks. Gavin McClanahan and Max Zinski tied for third with 3½-1½ scores. Conrad Oberhaus and Day One leader Bryce McClanahan tied for fifth with 3-2 scores; Penny Xu and Nathaniel Kranjc had even scores.
Crosstable here!
Proud father David Holecek writes:
Zachary Holecek is a five-time Illinois State Champion [...] winning his 17th place as a preschooler in K-3 section and winning his first state title in Kindergarten.
He loves chess and keeps busy with his other activities (basketball, soccer, scholastic bowl, and assists Dave Monatelli with the Sprague elementary chess team).
Chicago Conference Chess Championship
Lifted from the Fenwick High School website: congratulations to Ian Kowalski!
Friar Wins Chicago Conference Chess Championship
The Fenwick Chess Team ended the season in third place in the Chicago Chess Conference. Chess players compete both as a team and as individuals. Senior Ian Kowalski played the "first board"--the most competitive position in team chess. He ended the regular season in first place in the conference and then won the individual championship in a tournament held at St. Patrick's High School on Saturday March 25th. Kowalski and senior Jen Concepcion completed the five-round regular tournament in a four-way tie with two players from St. Patrick's. In a two game blitz playoff (an overtime in chess play,) Ian took first place and Jen placed fourth.
Also competing in the individual tournament were Jan Concepcion, Josh Orenic and Valente Herrera.
The Chicago Chess Conference consists of the Catholic High Schools in the Chicago metropolitan area.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Cool new feature on MSA
The U.S. Chess Federation's Member Services Area keeps improving each month!
If you visit Adarsh Jayakumar's MSA page, you'll find out that as of the April 2011 rating list (already out), Adarsh is ranked #374 among all active players in the US, and #59 among juniors.
Eric Rosen is #354 in the nation, #55 among juniors.
Sadly, Yury Shulman does not make the top juniors list, but he's tied for 6th in the nation.
It works for mere bloggers, too.
Hat tip to the South Suburban Chess Club of Greater Chicago for calling this to our attention, and thanks to Mike Nolan for his hard work!
If you visit Adarsh Jayakumar's MSA page, you'll find out that as of the April 2011 rating list (already out), Adarsh is ranked #374 among all active players in the US, and #59 among juniors.
Eric Rosen is #354 in the nation, #55 among juniors.
Sadly, Yury Shulman does not make the top juniors list, but he's tied for 6th in the nation.
It works for mere bloggers, too.
Hat tip to the South Suburban Chess Club of Greater Chicago for calling this to our attention, and thanks to Mike Nolan for his hard work!
Friday, March 25, 2011
March Madness in Skokie
Penny Yu vs. Sam Schmakel
Brad Rosen takes a look at the big weekend ahead. ICA sponsors three different invitational youth championships this weekend! Stop by the North Shore Chess Center for a glimpse of the action! (But be aware that access to the tournament floor may be limited.)
Perhaps the blogger quoted in the article meant his last sentence ironically, signalling that he had run out of tired clichés. But these young men and women are truly brilliant, hard-working, and nice people.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Korchnoi at 80
Coverage at ChessBase and ChessVibes.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
French players suspended for cheating
The French Chess Federation has suspended GMs Sebastian Feller and Arnaud Hauchard, and IM Cyril Marzolo, concluding that they cheated during the September 2010 Olympiad held in Khanty-Mansiysk. Here is how they allegedly did so:
ChessBase and ChessVibes (the source of the above quotation) have more. Just two months before the Olympiad, Feller (then rated 2611) had won the Paris Championship with an 8-1 score and an "amazing" 2859 performance rating. One has to wonder whether that result was legitimate.
[A]ccording to Jean-Claude Moingt the cheat the system went as follows: Cyril Marzolo sent SMS text messages with phone numbers which functioned as code. The first two digits were always 06, the following two were the number the move, the 5th and 6th figures would refer to the starting square, the 7th and 8th to the ending square, and finally, two counts of no importance. For example: 06 01 52 54 37, 06 01 57 55 99, 06 02 71 63 84, 06 02 67 65 43 are the codes for the moves constituting the Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5). This is actually the international notation of correspondence chess.
Arnaud Hauchard kept the two phones with him: his own and that of Sebastien Feller. He consulted and then returned to the bar at the venue. The way to indicate moves to Feller was as follows: the opponent of Vachier-Lagrave: A and 1, the opponent of Fressinet: B and 2, the opponent of Tkachiev: C and 3, the opponent of Feller: D and 4, Feller: E and 5, Tkachiev: F and 6, Fressinet: G and 7 and finally Vachier Lagrave: H and 8. For example if Arnaud Hauchard revolved around the table and stopped some time behind the opponent Tkachiev, and then behind that of Fressinet, he was signalling square c2.
ChessBase and ChessVibes (the source of the above quotation) have more. Just two months before the Olympiad, Feller (then rated 2611) had won the Paris Championship with an 8-1 score and an "amazing" 2859 performance rating. One has to wonder whether that result was legitimate.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Angelo Young, Andrew Karklins tie for first in St. Louis
Angelo even took first on tiebreaks; the field included GMs Kudrin and Finegold.
Crosstable here!
Story here!
Crosstable here!
Story here!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
North Shore Chess Center tourney tomorrow
Another email cut-and-paste:
North Shore Chess Center G/45 - 4R-SS G/45 + 10/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626. EF: $20 for non-members of the chess center, $15 for members of the chess center received by 3/19. All $5 more onsite. Onsite registration - up to 15 minutes prior to round 1 or round 2. If registering prior to round 2, you will receive a half-point bye for round 1. Round times: 1pm for round one and then 15 minutes after final game from previous round completed. Half-point byes available in any round. Prizes: Book prizes for top three finishers. Biggest upset (150+ points): Free entry to following month G/45 + book prize. Parking: Free self-parking. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org. USCF rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit - http://www.nachess.org/events
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Get your brackets ready...
...for the ICA's equivalent of March Madness:
- the 2011 Denker Qualifier (High School Invitational Championship)
- the 2011 Girls' Invitiational
- the brand-new Barber Qualifier (Invitational K-8 Championship)
Betsy Dynako's photos featured in New in Chess 2011.1
Loek van Wely (photo Betsy Dynako)
Certainly I would have beaten GM Van Wely's lovely friend WIM Sonia Zepeda in last year's Chicago Open, had the troublemaking Betsy Dynako not urged me immediately prior to the beginning of the game to pay less attention to the board and more to the objectification of my opponent.
Dynako: "She's very pretty."
blogger: "I only look at the women that I'm not playing."
Ms. Zepeda found a couple nice shots to turn a probable loss into a smooth win.
If you can afford the steep price, the trial subscription ($48 for five issues of New in Chess) is a very good deal!
Only a few hours left to save $20!
I paid $203 today to enter the Chicago Open online. The price goes up $20 tomorrow!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Carlsen seems to be taking Amber seriously....
...according to the profile (teaser only online) in this week's New Yorker, available in both of Chicago's remaining bookstores.
Charlie Sheen, Bobby Fischer, and #notwinning
In the Wall Street Journal, of all places. (Hat tip to Kevin Bachler.)
If Tigran Petrosian and Simon Webb
had #tigerblood, so too must Tiger Hillarp Persson.
OK, enough of that.
If Tigran Petrosian and Simon Webb
had #tigerblood, so too must Tiger Hillarp Persson.OK, enough of that.
Motokimi Yono
Motokimi Yono is in the Industrial Design program at UIC. Here are two of several chess-related designs in Motokimi's portfolio:
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Free live commentary of the Amber event
Sunday's Round 2 commentary begins (I think!) at 8:30 Central Daylight Time.
In his Round 1 wrapup, Ronen Har-Zvi covered a hilarious series of double blunders by Nakamura and Carlsen (in their defense, they were playing blindfold), and features Alexander Grischuk's amazing win against Vladimir Kramnik (also blindfold!).
In his Round 1 wrapup, Ronen Har-Zvi covered a hilarious series of double blunders by Nakamura and Carlsen (in their defense, they were playing blindfold), and features Alexander Grischuk's amazing win against Vladimir Kramnik (also blindfold!).
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